A CONMAN who cheated former England manager Sam Allardyce and a string of Premier League football stars out of tens of thousands of pounds was jailed for four years yesterday.

Stephen Ackermann lured former England manager Sam Allardyce and others out of thousands of pounds

Stephen Ackerman, 48, targeted West Ham United players, including England striker Andy Carroll, promising to deliver cut-price Fortnum & Mason hampers and Harrods champagne as long as he was paid up front.

But the luxury items never arrived and the fraudster pocketed more than £61,000 in the scam. Sentencing Ackerman at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London, Judge David Radford told him he was an “utterly deceitful and dishonest man who has consistently, premeditatedly and shamelessly defrauded others”.

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Ackerman was a man with “no scruples whatsoever, telling lie after lie to try to deceive others”, the judge added.

During his trial, jurors heard that “well-dressed” Ackerman visited West Ham’s training ground in the run-up to Christmas 2014.

The fraudster, who was using the alias Mark Kingston, had “all the trappings of success”.

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Ackerman was jailed for four years

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The conman also targeted West Ham United players such as Andy Carroll

He took payment from a number of players and staff using a hand-held chip and pin device.

No scruples whatsoever, telling lie after lie to try to deceive others

Judge David Radford

In the following weeks, some of the victims noticed unauthorised payments running into thousands charged to their accounts.

Ackerman, of Loughton, Essex, who had numerous previous convictions, denied 17 counts of fraud. Giving evidence via video link from holiday in Thailand, Allardyce described losing £270 after paying for six bottles of wine and six bottles of champagne.

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Ackerman promised the footballers cheap Harrods champagne, but it never arrived

He later saw a further £13,000 vanish from his account.

Carroll, 27, forked out £2,500 for bogus goods before his account was raided for a further £10,500.